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::fuzzy and blue --political musings by a proud Democrat::
::Author::  Name::Tina From::United States Married college graduate and parent who lives in the Mid West View my complete 
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Saturday, April 30, 2005 Soc Sec's Progressive Indexing Explained Check this out if you want to get a grasp on Bush's proposed "progressive indexing" for SS. VERY INFORMATIVE... but I esp. like the comments section that sums up exactly what I KNOW in my heart is behind the gutting of Soc Sec: "They intend to undo the New Deal and return the economy to the structure it had in 1870 (pre-Bismark industrial capitalism), with a few ultrawealthy at the top, a thin layer of strivers who work themselves to death thinking they will get to the top, and a large mass of proles with no choice but to toil until they die". YEP, that sums up the Neo-Con agenda perfectly... wake up working America! The GOP just met on Friday to ram Bush's proposal thru, despite the overwhelming numbers of us who HATE this idea. 
Gee, it's funny that O'Reilly, Hannity, Rush or Coulter didn't mention this in one of their never ending tirades about poor Christians being persecuted and harrassed for their Christian beliefs: Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia... you know, the guy in the long dress holding hands w/Bush among the bluebells... presided over the arrest of 40 Pakistani Christians . Their crime? The Pakistanis were caught praying in a private home in the capital Riyadh in violation of the state’s strictly enforced religious law that bans all non-Muslim worship. Well, at least Paul Begala on CNN's Crossfire raised the question of Bush's blatant hypocrisy of smooching the Christian hating dictator of one Muslim country while invading and destroying another dictator's Muslim country... but maybe this explains the strange attraction between the 2 men... he he he
The Forced Pregnancy Act's 1st Victim So, the Parental Notification Law passed (minors who want to obtain an abortion must have parental consent) and now a 13yr old FL girl (who lives in a shelter) told her case worker that she wanted to obtain an abortion, and the FL social services agency got a judge to block the girl's request. Forcing a homeless 13yr old to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term... anyone ever read or saw the movie The Handmaid's Tale? I'm sure the defunded social services will just pour in to help her provide food, medicine, clothes, and shelter for this baby once it is born, right? She's too immature to decide to get an abortion BUT she IS mature enough to be pregnant and have and raise a baby?... oh well, that's exactly what sluts like her deserve... she should have recieved abstinence only education... then she'd just have unprotected oral & anal sex like the other abstinence only educated kids do.
Hmm... who voted to armor our troops' humvees? Check out the voting list here... but didja notice all of those R's in the nay column? Once again, they will vote for the war, but screw the warriors doing the fighting... solution? Draft Repubs ONLY.
If you read the "Da Vinci Code", then you are familiar w/the controversial Catholic group Opus Dei (they self flagellate til blood flies in the name of God)... but did you know that Sen Santorum has taken paid trips to Rome by Opus Dei, & that during a speech in Rome, Santorum said: "George W. Bush is the the 1st Catholic president the US has ever had"... really? JFK, ever heard of him asshat? Santorum claims that b/c of JFK's 1960 speech (posted yesterday ironically enough) declaring the absolute necessity for separation of church & state in America disqualifies Kennedy as a Catholic... hmm... ya might want to discuss that w/the devout Kennedy clan... they might beg to differ w/you Rick... and if the Santorum is an" Opus Dei whipping boy" connection is not frightening enough for anyone who wants to avoid a US theocracy, how about this jaw dropper: When Santorum's wife miscarried a 20wk old fetus, they took the male fetus home... so their kids (aged 1 to 6 at the time) could hold him. Look I know firsthand how devastating a miscarriage can be... but it is simply horrifying to me to subject your living children to that... it is unspeakably selfish to do that to them...
It should have been called Lie-fest 05, but just some talking points on his WH news conference: 1. Bush has been stealing from the money allocated to Soc Sec (the Clinton surplus & SS trust fund that he raided for his war & wealthy tax cuts). The fact that he's STEALING OUR MONEY is contributing to the potential shortfall SS may face in 43 yrs... stop stealing=more money for SS. 2. Private accounts CANNOT be transferred to your survivors upon your death. People in these accounts will be required to purchase government lifetime annuities. 3. Bush claims that investing in bonds will be safe and secure, but a few weeks ago he said that they are simply IOU's: "The president ridiculed both these certificates and the four-drawer file cabinet in which they are stored, insinuating that Treasury bonds are not a secure investment. "There is no trust fund," said Mr. Bush, "just I.O.U.s that I saw first-hand." 4. Bush implied (or lied) that if you don't pay into the private accounts, that you will still have your full benefits... how will this work? Magic money tree w/money laundering elves? 5. Progressive Indexing will NOT help the middle class, because 70% of recipients (people making over $20,000) will have BENEFIT CUTS. Example: Someone making the average annual wage of $36,000 would receive a 20% benefit cut. 6. Soc Sec is INSURANCE for that rainy day when all of your other options/ choices fail or run out. We already have choices/ options... 401Ks, IRAs, stock market investing...you do not mess w/the only INSURANCE that can keep you from being homeless & eating cat food.
Hmm... let's see, what should we do w/a convicted embezzler, internat'l fugitive, and double dealing spy who has had his home and office raided by our US troops? Oh I know... let him watch over the Iraqi oil... the oil that was supposed to be paying for this war, by the way... who knew that giving top secret US documents to the Iranians would pave the road to success?
Old Fashioned Nazi Book Burning in Alabama Hmm... let's see, The Color Purple-burnt, Truman Capote-burnt, Tennesse Williams-burnt, Gore Vidal-burnt, Kinsey Report-burnt, Burroughs-burnt, Shakespeare, well there are those gay-like love sonnets to a young man... yes friends, let's have an old fashioned Nazi book burning in Alabama... ahh, I love the smell of fascism in the morning....
Wow... Bush finally created jobs instead of destroying them: business is booming for Iraqi coffin makers... what's next Bush? Tax breaks for every roadside bomb?
General Richard Myers: "Iraqi insurgents have lost none of their capacity to stage attacks".Gee, what sunshiney spin will Bush try to put on this? Well, they could simply ignore it like they are on this tidbit of news: The number of serious international terrorist incidents more than tripled last year, according to U.S. govt figures, a sharp upswing in deadly attacks that the State Department has decided not to make public in its annual report on terrorism due to Congress this week.
This may be nothing, or it may be yet another indication of the very looong arm of the never ending evil Bush clan. Read the story here and you make up your mind... but it is kinda creepy, no?
From the LA Times: Evangelical Protestants have led the way in portraying Dems as enemies of God, but the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has chimed in on the issue of judicial nominees in a mass mailing to parishioners timed to yield constituent letters just as the matter comes to a vote, telling the parishioners that the filibuster must be squelched. Ya know, I tried to be open minded during the election, despite Ratzinger's Rule (if you're pro-choice, you must be denied communion) but on this issue, the Bishops and yes, even the Pope can go FUCK THEMSELVES. If you think that is harsh of me, too bad... read the quote of JFK that sums up why I feel the way I do & why I am a public member of American society 1st, and a private member of a religion 2nd. And I am not alone, b/c this abuse of the Church's power is echoed beautifully here.
It is apparently necessary for me to state once again -- not what kind of church I believe in for that should be important only to me, but what kind of America I believe in. I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute -- where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be a Catholic) how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote -- where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference -- and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him. I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish -- where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source -- where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials -- and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all. For, while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew -- or a Quaker -- or a Unitarian -- or a Baptist. Today, I may be the victim -- but tomorrow it may be you -- until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped apart at a time of great national peril. Hallelujah JFK! We need you today more than ever... RIP.
The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act passed the House 270-157 Wednesday, including 54 bad Dems in favor of the Act and 11 Republicans voting for women's rights. I am the parent of a baby girl, but let NARAL Pro Choice America tell you why this is bad... and unconstitutional. If my own daughter could not or would not tell me she needed or wanted to have an abortion, I would be devastated, simply put. But if she were the victim of rape or incest, I could understand and respect her predicament and decision. So, what about young women whose family members forced them to become pregnant or force them to remain pregnant?... oh well, the criminal justice system will just deal w/these terrified teens later when they give birth to their unwanted babies in secret in a dirty bathroom and throw their babies away like trash by charging them w/murder, abandonment or child endangerment (if the baby lives), or they can always go the coat hanger route. Let's just make a bad situation even worse... idiots.
Lenny Kravitz So Kicks Ass Very, very sleepy... must go to bed... went to see Lenny Kravitz at Cleveland Music Hall... and I am so worn out... it was FABULOUS, but this is my 4th time seeing him in concert, so fabulous is just par for the course when Lenny is on stage... and his bad ass girl drummer is back on tour w/him (she was w/him when I saw him in 97, but not when I saw him in 00), so I was so psyched to see her back 'cause she is 1 bad ass sistah... night all- this tired mommy is spent.
The Irish saint, St. Malachy (1094-1148) who had visions of all popes who would reign, gives a prophetic look at what Ratzinger may be like as Pope. Malachy's vision, if true, is very interesting stuff, and ya have to wonder what the future holds... and yes, I do whole heartedly believe in the power and mercy of the saints... they have NEVER failed me yet when I was in a time of need.
Okay, so in the new Time, Ann the Emaciated Hag Coulter refers to "swarthy males" i.e. those of a skin complexion that could suggest that they may be of Middle Eastern descent such as Italian, Spanish, Jews, but she was once fired for using that exact term: The Nat'l Review fires Coulter after she penned a piece that called for the US to respond to terrorism by invading their countries, killing their leaders, and converting them to Christianity... the decision came after editors refused to run a follow-up piece in which Coulter singled out what she called "swarthy males". (if you stomach it, read it here) Assuming that The Hag is talking about Islamic terrorists, how can she exclude blacks given that many African Americans are Muslims, as well as African immigrants, and what about Caucasian Muslims from nations like Albania, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Turkey, Russia, the Caucasus and Anglo-American Muslims? And she says to exclude the women... has this dumb bitch never heard of pissed off Chechnyan widows who strap bombs to their chests and blow up planes, let alone all of the innocent fresh faced Arab girls who been suicide bombers in the Middle East? Stupid & ugly... not a nice combination for an emaciated trans-sexual. If you're up for a very STRANGE read, check this out (graphic, like porn graphic & VERY WEIRD, but it's about The Hag)
In 2005, this story just makes me want to hurl: Near Chicago, minority students at a small Christian college were moved from dormitories to an undisclosed hotel, as the FBI and other law enforcement began investigating a racist letter threatening violence on campus. The money quote: "My understanding is that they're supposed to start shooting the black kids today". And get this: Bill Frist's announcer at Justice Sunday's rally (Tony Perkins of the Family Research Center) has been in cahoots w/ white supremacist David Duke (former KKK Grand Wizard). Jesus H. Christ driving a motorhome... I'm sure He is oh-so-proud of these Christians.
OK, so we know that Abramoff's credit card paid for DeLay's UK trip, but didja know that Abramoff also used funds (that he said were for a Washington DC charity, the Capital Athletic Foundation) to support Jewish settlers on the West Bank in their fight the Palestinian intifada? Hmm... maybe that is why Jack finds his friends list to be mighty short these days (awesome article that shows which GOPers Jack is connected to). And lots of Jack's former GOP friends and associates are sweating bullets nowadays, but they may have no need to fear b/c Attorney Gen Gonzales will have the final say. Speaking of corrupt attorneys, check out what the Native Americans have to say about their tribes being taken for a big ride by Abramoff, if Jack gets indicted, it may make Sen John McCain's problems with the tribes go away, check out the 25 yr connection between Jack & Ralph Reed (running for GA Lt. Gov & former Christian Coalition bigwig) & if you can believe this... Abramoff's involvement in the Marianas Islands is being investigated, too. Jeeze, this guy is toxic, and I bet he can sing like a canary when pressed... and it looks like his singing has begun: Just released records show that DeLay & Jack were in daily contact w/each other during the 90's.
Bush & DeLay On Roadtrip WTF? Has Bush F-ing lost his mind? Is Rove crapping his pants over Bush taking DeLay on the road with him to tout Social Secuirty privatization? Having DeLay tell me to trust in private accounts for my Soc Sec is like tellling me that Jeffery Dahmer just had an eating disorder...
Ahh... I can almost smell the bluebells and imagine the romantic talk of secretly escorting bin Laden family members out of the US when the next "shocking & unexpected & completely unplanned" attack hits the US. And it is refreshing to see such open affection between 2 men, eh? They better be careful... Dobson said that handholding was proof of Patrick & Spongebob being gay. Hell, they might as well be lovers b/c we're all getting fucked by them now in some way, either thru gas prices or fascist policies...
If you want to see the amount of public debt the US owes... to the penny... take a gander here, at the US Dept of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt. And why is Bush oblivious to average citizens' anxiety about the economy? B/c he only listens to & speaks to his base... the wealthy & global corporations.
First, let me say that I do not want our troops to be shot, killed, or maimed... I want them to be back home... protecting OUR NATION... but this war has put them in the impossible position of killing civilians indiscriminately b/c this war is not a war of 1 military force fighting another military force. And the insurgency will NEVER calm down when our terrified troops are killing Iraqi civilians with impunity... it just breeds more hatred & contempt & more insurgents.
Finally, some good news about Darfur: The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a measure sponsored by Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) demanding that the genocide in the war-ravaged Darfur region in Sudan be stopped. The Senate also approved a Corzine amendment adding $90 million for humanitarian aid to the region. Thank you Senator for tirelessly working on this very important yet ignored issue & I bet if Darfur had oil it would be a top priority issue.
Did someone murder a loved one? Has your spouse been raped? Did a child predator take away your child's innocence? Has your home been invaded? It just sucks to be you b/c President Bush's proposed budget would eliminate the Victims Crime Fund -- more than a billion dollars that helps pay for counseling, medical bills, and advocates to walk families through the court system. That, my friends, is compassionate conservatism at its finest...
When will Bush's assault on Social Security F-ing end? The Supreme Crt will now consider the proposal to allow a person's Social Security payments to be seized to pay off student loan debts. How will impoverished people live? For 1000s of people, SS is the only thing that prevents them from living on the streets in a cardboard box... "oh well... F-CK the poor... it sucks to be them"... says our very Christian prez.
So, the rapid Repubs want to end the filibuster, but what about when Clinton was prez? Well, they couldn't filibuster his judicial nominees enough. And how do average citizens feel about the push to kill the filibuster? Well, by a 2 to 1 ratio, the public DOES NOT WANT nor approves of getting rid of the filibuster. And check out driftglass.blogspot for an interesting bit of advice to moderate Repubs who have let the lunatic fringe take over the asylum: "...the biopsy came back... & the Christianofascist wing of your party has metastasized"... he he he.
Did Ratzinger Obstruct Justice in Abuse Cases? I was pissed before about the charges against Ratzinger in regards to him defending a Mexican priest who was accused of abusing children, but the Guardian UK uncovered that Ratzinger ordered that all cases of abuse involving minors under the age of 18 hold its inquiries behind closed doors and keep the evidence confidential for up to 10 years after the victims reached adulthood. Why in the hell do you not start the clock ticking until the kid turns 18? Answer: If you can manage to keep it secret for 18 years plus 10 the priest will get away with it. And what did Ratzinger say would happen to anyone who dared to breach the orders of the 10yrs of silence?... excommunication.
The Gannon/ Guckert creepiness never ends. 1st, check out what the Freedom of Information requests from Reps Slaughter & Conyers have turned up: Gannon checked in using his real name Guckert, he attended 155 of 196 WH press briefings, he made more than 3 dozen visits to the WH when there were no scheduled briefings, & on many of these days, the Press Office held press briefings aboard Air Force One—which raises questions about what Gannon was doing at the White House. And get this: on at least 14 occasions, his check in times show NO CHECK OUT TIME... eww... I've said it before & I'll say it again... WHO was Gannon fucking in the White House? See the Secret Service Access Records here. This whole thing is just so "Hotel California" by the Eagles... you can check in... but you can never leave.
I kid you not... Bolton verbally abused a female legal advisor nearly 20 yrs ago over... baby milk.
Why is it that Bush , the neo-cons, the Religious Fright, and the rednecks can't rally enough around the call to war, but leave the warriors who actually do the fighting high and dry? Well, it seems that the marines are pretty pissed off about this treatment and they let the NY Times hear their rant.
The Talibornagains were gnashing their fangs and wiping the fundamentalist foam from their wolfish grins as their glorious Justice Sunday took place. Check out what the Courier-Journal in Louisville, KY had to say about this freak fest, as well as the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader. Ya might be shocked to see how these newspapers (in very red state KY) see this Bible thumping spectacle, and the best part?... the "counter-rally" held to show that the GOP does not spell GOD.
So we were told that the elderly couldn't vote for Bush quick enough in Nov. Well old people, if you're on Medicare and need to see a judge when the govt denies your claim, Bush made it a hell of a lot harder for you to get an appeal. Happy w/your beloved Prez now? Thanks, you'll be dying soon... the rest of will continue suffering under this prick.
Hijacking My Religion is Religious McCarthyism Great op/ ed piece in the Wash Post... sums it all up fabulously.
Today is being called Justice Sunday for the Religious Fright... with the likes of Frist, Dobson & the always amusing and vitriolic Family Research Council leading the pack of fanged wolves(check out their pearls of wisdom on marriage here). In addition to spewing their hatred about gay marriage, some other topics that will be vomited out can be checked out here (notice they list the de-funding of Planned Parenthood b/c helping low income women & teenagers receive women's health care & birth control is EVIL, right?). So, if their scary agenda for 2005 doesn't frighten the knickers off ya, then nothing will... but maybe the one person who truly needs to change his underoos is Tom DeLay. Why? Well, it appears that the floodgates of Hell are beginning to open in Sugarland TX for DeLay as it finally comes to light that DeLay's glorious golf trip to the UK was paid for by DeLay's old lobbyist buddy, Jack Abramoff (on Abramoff's credit card)... and that my friends is absolutely 100% NOT LEGAL according to the House Ethics Committee which bars lawmakers from accepting travel and related expenses from registered lobbyist... he he he... credit cards leave such nasty lil paper trails, no?
WTF? Bush Claims Chicago as His Home Okay, so we all just had to take care of our tax business last week, but who in the hell knew that Prez Bush lives in Chicago? Yep, on his tax files, Bush & Laura have a P.O. Box in Chicago listed as their home address... the White House... the Crawford, TX ranch... anyone ever heard of those 2 places? How can he possibily claim that he lives in Chicago? That crazy dry-drunk probably really does believe that he lives in Chicago and Laura is too damn stoned on Prozac and Lithium & her face is too frozen from Botox to tell him otherwise.
Soon to be retired IL Congressman Henry Hyde (R) let's us in on some GOP secrets: Clinton's impeachment was payback to Dems for Nixon's impeachment. Wow... consensual oral sex vs breaking & entering... BIG DIFFERENCE?... only 1 of these is ILLEGAL in ALL states, asshole.
As Sen Bill Frist readies to pimp out an evangelical telecast on the 24th that depicts Democrats as "against people of faith", religious groups, including the National Council of Churches and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, plan to conduct a conference call with journalists to criticize Senator Frist's participation in the telecast. Among those scheduled to speak in the conference call is the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, a top official of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., in which Dr. Frist is an active member. Kirkpatrick's money quote: "Elected officials should not be portraying public policies as being for or against people of faith... b/c one of the hallmarks of our denomination is that we are an ecumenical church". So... Frist even violates the basic tenets of his own church to pimp out his agenda to the Talibornagains... SHAMEFUL!
Fox News is devoting an entire hour this weekend to muddy the waters with Iran:the Nuclear Threat before the media ignores the trumped up leadup to (yet another) illegal war, but Aljazeera clearly sees how brain dead Americans will sleepwalk into allowing another war happen. It's not as if Seymour Hersh hasn't warned us though, but then again, who believes award winning journalists and authors of Hersh's ilk anyway? Maybe the brain dead will listen to neo-cons like Norman Podhoretz, who says that WW IV started on Sept 11, 01... and who is pushing for this war w/Iran? Well, it is Israel, of course, and Israel claims that they KNOW that Iran is at the point of no return on nuclear weapons. At Open Democracy, Dan Plesch says do not be shocked when the war in Iran starts, so if you want your eyes to be open while the rest of America (and the corporate media) falls asleep at the wheel, please check this out, b/c we need to stop this war with Iran before it starts.
Bush Sexy? NOPE An international poll of 11K women in 15 nations gave Bush a 2 on a scale to 10 on sexiness. Yeah, that empty head, that evil glint in his eyes, and that greed, hypocrisy, and hatred oozing from his pores tends to make a man repellent, not sexy.
DeLay says that all of the "trumped up" accusations & scrutiny of the Dems has made him "closer to God". Yeah, and this Nine Inch Nails song came to mind, b/c ya know DeLay... many people feel closer to God in varying circumstances: "You let me violate you, you let me desecrate you You let me penetrate you, you let me complicate you Help me I broke apart my insides, help me I've got no Soul to tell Help me the only thing that works for me, help me get away from myself I want to fuck you like an animal I want to feel you from the inside I want to fuck you like an animal My whole existence is flawed You get me closer to god".---"Closer" Nine Inch Nails (words by Trent Reznor)
That is an excellent question indeed, and it has been asked by a Dem at Chuck Pennacchio's campaign blog (Dem contender for Senator in PA against Santorum) you can see more about Santorum bilking the PA taxpayers for his holier than thou shenanigans... but take a gander at the itemized money trail for Santorum's Whoring for Schiavo Tour and ask yourself why are there no expenditures reported on his FEC report for this FL trip? Psst... taxpayers paid...
Bush visited Springfield, IL's new Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum this week and joked about some similarities he thought that he and old Abe shared. Well, I found some quotes by Abe Lincoln that can only highlight how Bush and Lincoln are at opposite poles when it comes to religion: "The Bible is not my Book and Christianity is not my religion. I could never give assent to the long complicated statements of Christian dogma." ---Abraham Lincoln , "My earlier views at the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures, have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them." ---Abraham Lincoln , & "My husband is not a Christian but is a religious man, I think." ---Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. I bet if more Repubs took the time to crack open a history book, they would be hestitant to tout Abe as the poster-boy for the GOP and the Religious Fright, eh?
This is so typical of the Re-Thug-licans: We have Bolton threatening Melody Townsel and chasing her down a hotel hallway, Bolton threatening a Justice Dept lawyer's job b/c she DARED to take maternity leave (what should she have done? give the kid a full bottle & clean diapey and say over her shoulder "mommy will be home by 7... be a good baby" as she locks up every morning?), we have Scott "I need to come out of the closet" McClellan saying that the WH has "been in touch with" Sen.Voinovich (Voinovich should expect to awaken w/a bloody horse's head in his bed), and now Condi Rice is threatening and intimidating poeple who may speak out about Bolton.,. which is, as Sen. Barbara Boxer points out, an act that is unconstitutional.
Bush's former ambassador to S.Korea reports that he himself had been verbally abused by John Bolton and that Bolton was a very undiplomatic and angry man. And this, from former Sec of State Colin Powell: he warns of Bolton's volatility and has spoken with several GOP senators about his experiences w/Bolton's outbursts. Hmm... seems like the evidence just keeps piling up about old "crazy" Johnny, eh? Jeeze, ya would've thought that his imitation of Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" as he chased the woman down the hotel hallway would've sealed his fate, but for the Kool-Aid drinking GOPers, I guess not...
1995 DeLay Quote.. Priceless for 2005 "The time has come that the American people know exactly what their Representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special interest groups? Or are they working hard to represent their constituents? The people, the American people, have a right to know...I say the best disinfectant is full disclosure, not isolation." --Rep. Tom DeLay 11/16/1995 .... oh the irony!
With an ugly rape scandal hanging over their heads, the Air Force Academy is instead being forced to deal with the Talibornagains and their evangelical name calling...such as calling cadets "filthy Jews", telling cadets who are not born again that they will rot in hell, & being told that the Holocaust was payment for the Jews "killing Christ". It is the uber-Christians who then say that they are being persecuted for their religion... and how about these good evangelicals who are pissed b/c Bush is stupidly focusing on Soc Sec when there is so much damn gay bashing to be done?... God help us...
An innocent man may have been put to death in the death penalty happy state of TX. But gee, I thought that our govt must "err on the side of life"... oh that's right, ONLY when it will earn political points from the wingnuts... and don't governors commute death sentences & decide if new DNA evidence merits a new trial or stay of execution, too? Just asking, b/c I can think of 1 prez who was also a gov... of Texas no less...
Rep Robert Talton (R-TX) intoduced an amendment in TX, that has now passed, that will outsource state employees jobs as case workers for Child Protective Services to private companies, and will not allow gays, lesbians, and bisexuals become foster parents b/c Talton says that "homosexuality is a learned behavior" & "if it were up to me, I'd just leave kids in orphanages" than see gays raising a child. Gee, I have 2 gay male friends who I have been friends w/since elementary school, and both of them are the product of 2 hetero people married to each other (both couples are still married to each other) so how exactly did these 2 gay men learn their gay behavior? By that rationale, they should be straight, married, and have children, right? I didn't learn to be hetero; I simply AM hetero. They didn't learn to be gay; they simply ARE gay. Republicans didn't learn to be human; they simply have no hearts, morals or brains.
This is not good, and as a parent, this pisses me off bigtime: When he was Cardinal Ratzinger, our new Pope appears to have covered up sex abuse allegations against Father Maciel of Mexico. And what was Ratzinger's response to the priest sex abuse scandal? It was the fault of the "liberal media" of course... not the men of the cloth who swore an oath to God to do God's works and then like predatory animals, forced themselves upon innocent children... but the media. Did Ratzinger consult w/Tom DeLay on this one? Care to see what Ratzinger had to say about women and homosexuals? Read this, it was written in 01/05 (well before JPII died) and it is enlightening. And as if I already didn't have concerns about Ratzinger, read what the Talibornagains have to say about our new Pope (hint: they just LOVE him... YIKES!)
Condi Rice, in Moscow, said that the power that the President has on the media is "worrying"... Yeah Condi, it is worrying that the Prez paid $240,000 to Armstrong Williams to sell No Child Left Behind, it is troubling that only GOP Kool-Aid drinkers can attend Presidential town hall meetings and rally events (but after taking an oath to the Prez, of course), Faux News calling a Presidential Election for the President instead of the ACTUAL winner of the Election is really worrying, Sinclair Broadcasting refusing to allow the roll call of our fallen soldiers be shown on tv for fear that it will make the Prez's war look bad, and a gay hooker w/absolutely no journalistic credentials being allowed to sit w/the WH Press Club is beyond worrying... it is weird and creepy... oh... oops... I see now... Condi meant that the power President Putin has on the media is worrying... wow, ya know, the 2 men are so much alike in their love for dictatorial rule and absolute power that I couldn't distinguish which president Condi was referring to...
94 of 162 Judges on Crt of Appeals are Repubs So, the obvious question is this: WTF are DeLay and Frist blathering about when they refer to these supposed "liberal activist" judges?? If 58% of the active judges have been appointed by Repubs, and 7 out of the 9 Supreme Crt Justices since 1976 have been appointed by Repubs, honestly... WTF are DeLay and Frist talking about? Well, check out DeLay's pandering to the fringe freaks on this judge bashing session. I almost fell on the floor when DeLay said: "we have to define good behavior"... as if he would even recognize if it bit him on his ass. And this op/ed piece on Justice Scalia is fabulous b/c it says it clearly: Scalia is an activist judge, too... gasp! Bush's fav judge is an activist?
This is so sad, a 28yr old CA native, Marla Ruzicka, was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on 4/16. She tirelessly went door to door in Iraq to count the number of Iraqis killed since the American invasion began in 03. She also sat in at the Senate to hear Rumsfeld's testimony on the war in Afghanistan in Aug/04. And she also posted "Letters from Iraq" at AlterNet. May her soul that bristled so admirably at such injustices in life finally know peace and tranquility in death. Rest in Peace
Well, as unlikely as the Tom DeLay & Ted Nugent pairing may seem at first glance, I believe upon further inspection, it makes more sense: They are both extremist nutjobs, both advocate killing to advance their agenda, and both SUCK.
Hmm, so Repubs and Dems both collectively had too many concerns and questions over this nominee to the UN, and a vote was postponed until next month. Read this take on the Bolton hearings: It is about wielding absolute power over those parties or people that you can and refusing to suffer a single loss due to extreme hubris. (need I say Frist, DeLay, filibuster squashing, Gonzales' advocation of the use of torture, no WMDs, etc. ?)
I am not encouraged nor enthusiastic about the selection of Ratzinger as Pope. I am utterly stunned and dismayed... as is every other single Catholic or Eastern Orthodox person I have spoken directly to about this. I wish Pope Benedict XVI the best of luck and I truly hope that he does not end up being the EXTREMELY harsh and polarizing theologian that he was as a Cardinal b/c the last thing the world needs is a Catholic version of the Falwell & Robertson type of Talibornagain Fundamentalists and the Sharia Law- loving Radical Islamic Mullahs. Didja know that Ratzinger intervened in the 04 Election against Kerry to convince Catholic voters that they could not vote for a prochoice and proeuthanasia candidate or else risk being denied communion. Please read this from the Nat'l Catholic Reporter & tell me that I am crazy for being so very wary of this man being the Holy Pontiff.
DeLay is a Douchebag & His Scary Quote "I blame Congress over the last 50 to 100 years for not standing up and taking its responsibility given to it by the Constitution. The reason the judiciary has been able to impose a separation of church and state that's nowhere in the Constitution is that Congress didn't stop them. The reason we had judicial review is because Congress didn't stop them. The reason we had a right to privacy is because Congress didn't stop them." Yep, Tom DeLay said it in an interview with the Washington Times, and I only have 2 things to remind this asshat of: Elected officials work FOR US, the voters, not vice versa, and the Constitution reads: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Therefore, WE THE PEOPLE, not Congress, not the judges, ARE THE POWER OF THIS NATION... on 2nd thought... DeLay gives douchebags a bad name, at least they serve a useful, and often times, necessary purpose.
What asshat came up w/this? Let's put together an "Islamic Outreach Program"... but let's have NO MUSLIMS partake in the damned thing! And get this, the only Arabs Bush has on board for this program are Christians of Arabic ethnicity. Would it take the Jaws of Life to remove Bush's head from his ass?
It couldn't happen to a more deserving corporate whore... the state of Maryland has proposed a new law that would require any company that employs more than 10K employees to provide at least 8% of their payroll to healthcare benefits for those employees, or donate 8% of their payroll to that state's Medicaid program. He he he... eat that Rush Limbaugh... who has villianized the MD bill and the GOP MD governor agrees w/Rush... so to all of you (Wal-Mart, Rush & Gov Ehrlich) go pound sand up your greedy asses b/c this is victory to the MD taxpayers & workers. And get this... 7 additional states are considering the exact same law... ouch, I predict more bitch slaps are in Wal-Mart's future.
So I forced myself to visit the vile Drudge Report (please Matt Drudge, closets are for clothes, not gay self loathers like yourself) and when I saw The Emaciated Hag on Time's cover... I kid you not... I covered my eyes and screamed for my husband... she is so damned HIDEOUS... but do you think that the Time article covered this area of The Hag's life? Hmm... could she really be a he who was once named Arthur... to quote Austin Powers... well, she is rather manish and she does look like she's been hit w/ an ugly stick... it's a MAN, baby! And what about the part in the Time article where she says that airport security screening MUST be based on skin color: "Swarthy men ... We'd be searching, you know, Italians, Spanish, Jews, males—but you're excluding the women. You're excluding the old people. You're excluding American blacks." Nice, she advocates discrimination based on skin color... but what about terrorists like Timothy McVeigh & Eric Rudolph? Those lilly white boys would just squeak by the security checks if a super genius like The Hag were in charge... what a stupid racist C*$T... & I never use the "C" word against fellow females... but since she/he's not a female... it's all good.
This would be dream come true... Bush is planning a trip to the Netherlands on May 7-8 (to visit the Netherlands American Cemetery to commemorate Victory in Europe Day) and a group of citizens of the Hague have filed a lawsuit against the state in order to have Bush arrested for war crimes for numerous violations of the Geneva Conventions... oh if only we Americans had such balls to call a war criminal a war criminal... sigh...
It's no shock that W can't sing John Bolton's praises enough. Why? Because Bush's nominee as US ambassador to the UN is ethically challenged and a longtime liar, and a big bully. Bush feels like he's just looking into a mirror... and this op/ ed examines all the reasons why Bolton is NOT the right man for the job. Originally taken during the 2000 Election, (but printed in 10/04 for an article about the 04 Election) a great photo of none other than Bolton examining some "hanging / butterfly chads" in FL... something smells rotten to me... and from 2002, the Miami Herald highlights the names of those who helped Bush in the 2000 Election who were later rewarded w/ plum jobs. But despite all of the rank odors that Bolton wafts in, he will most probably be confirmed on Tuesday b/c why the hell not? If an inept slacker like Condi and a torture happy freak like Gonzales can be confirmed, ANYBODY can be confirmed in this administration.
Depleted Uranium... Learn About It On 03/15/05, I posted about depleted uranium and links to pix of the incredible devastation DU has on human beings. Well, watch this and learn as much about it as you can. (graphic images) Why? Because our nation's military actions have exposed countless human beings to this horrifying chemical, including 1000's of our soldiers in Iraq.
This just made me laugh... especially this part:In conclusion, let me say to all the activist pharmacists out there, fellas, a pharmacist is not a law-giver, not even a doctor. In the medical pecking order, you rank somewhere in between a chiropractor and a tree surgeon.
Hallelujah! Brains have fallen into the heads of some members of Congress: The Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act, which would protect a woman's right to obtain her legal prescription. It would allow a pharmacist to refuse to fill a prescription only if the prescription can be passed to and filled by a co-worker at the same pharmacy. Thank God... b/c what would be next for these pompous asses in pretend doctor coats? A pharmacist who abhors gay people would refuse to fill their HIV medications? And by the way, activist pharmacists are violating their own code of ethics, esp parts III & VI... hypocrites...
Wow, as a person of deep and abiding faith, I am very shocked to see that as a Democrat, I am now actually AGAINST people of faith... I wonder if my friends and family, who are people of faith, too, know that I am against them... but since most of them are also Dems, does that mean that THEY are against ME, too? (jeeze, now I'm gonna be paranoid) Doesn't Frist have something else to do besides lie out of his ass w/crap like this... like ghoulishly peruse some homeless cat shelters?
Yikes! This is NOT encouraging... Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is a former Hitler Youth member. Ratzinger was already at the top of my list for LEAST favorite choice for pope due to his ultra conservative ideas (we already have enough insanity w/the Islamic fundamentalists and the Evangelical fundamentalists in the world) so the very last thing the Catholic Church needs is a foaming at the mouth conservative, especially given that JP II had accomplished so much to recognize, encourage, and include other religions and cultures. Please Cardinals... have some sense in your brains and hearts... pick a man who embodies Christ's love and tolerance... not a man filled w/hatred and intolerance.
While US elected officials and the Talibornagains whip open their Bibles at American women & prepare to shove their own version of Christianity down the throats of pregnant women, Iran loosens their abortion laws to allow for abortions to be performed on fetuses up to the fourth month of gestation if at least 3 doctors have determined has genetic abnormalities will result in the child being born mentally/ physically disabled. And Talibornagains are leading the charge against a vaccine that can prevent women from contracting the virus (HPV) that causes most cases of cervical cancer. They say that protecting females from catching the virus will give them free license to have sex. So protecting women from CANCER is a BAD and immoral thing to these freaks? Who knew that the Culture of Life only wanted virgins to live?
In Honor of Income Tax Day We almost have a flat tax now: Bigger tax breaks for wealth produces a system in which the middle class pays about the same as the rich, and Bush's push to make his tax cuts permanent will only shift the tax burden onto to the middle class b/c hey, somebody has to pay the bills.
Whoa... so the ACTUAL reason we invaded Iraq finally presents itself... 2 years too late. Setting up shop in Iraq's oil fields was so timely eh?
Ha ha... at NYU, Supreme Crt Justice Antonin Scalia spoke to 300 students, and afterwards was taking questions when one student stood up and asked Scalia about his decision in Texas' consensual sodomy laws. Scalia gave his expected wingnut answer, and the student then asked Scalia: Do you sodomize your wife?..... bwhaa! Priceless!
Gee... I'm so happy to see that the Nat'l Guard has a spare $6 million just lying around to rename RFK Stadium, b/c gosh, during this time of peace and prosperity (yeah, right...), a branch of our military wouldn't have anything to pay for..... like ARMOUR for our TROOPS???
Here is a quote from DeLay in the NY Times: "We set the jurisdiction of the courts. We set up the courts. We can unset the courts." I don't even want to begin to imagine what "unsetting" a court entails when DeLay is involved, but read this about the Nazis and how they dictated the rules for judges during their reign.... afraid are you?... ya should be... but check out this funny site dedicated to All Things Scandalous w/ DeLay... and "pick a scandal" while visiting.
Osama bin Laden bought his freedom out of Afghanistan by bribing his Afghani "captors" when US outsourced the job of capturing him... I'm still waiting for OBL's money trail to show giant campaign contributions to Bush/ Cheney 2000 & 2004.
Wow... the UK's Mirror says that uncovered documents reveal that the US has plans remaining in Iraq until 2009, and as such, UK troops will be roped in to stay, too. And Saddam may get to avoid the gallows by cutting a deal w/the insurgents... we don't make deals w/terrorists eh?
O'Reilly Lies About Calling Pope Senile When will O'Reilly put a muzzle on his pie hole? When confronted w/the transcripts from his Fox News show, where it is proven that he did call JP II senile, O'Reilly lies & denies. Some REALLY angry women, who say they are victims of sex abuse from priests, protested Cardinal Law's presence at Mass, and Italian cops intervened. Speaking of the abuse scandal, the new pope will be facing enormous financial problems due to the abuse settlements. Two op/ed pieces sum up my feelings about the press ignoring JP II's anti- war stance, and the quandry Catholics face while mourning their Pontiff, while knowing that they have acted contrary to his directives and Catholic doctrine. Yep, I'm 100% pro-artificial birth control methods & to hell w/anybody who says that damns me eternally.
Tom DeLay issued an apology for his overheated words on the day Terri Schiavo died, but would not apologize for his radical judicial war or his call for the impeachment of judges. Ya know what? An apology is supposed to be heartfelt and based on regret for a transgression... so nobody w/a brain accepts your empty apology... go piss up a rope... b/c after DeLay apologized, he did this: He requested a review by Congress into Schiavo's case concerning the actions of the federal judiciary. DeLay also compared the GOP's "Contract with America" to the Magna Carta, the US Constitution & Bill of Rights... oh for fuck's sake, how stupid is this scumbag?
Rep. Louise Slaughter, Ranking Member of the Rules Committee, (the committee with jurisdiction over the procedures of the Ethics Committee) has been a vocal opponent of the Repub leadership's continued efforts to destroy the House Ethics process. On March 17, 2005, Rep. Slaughter and the Democratic members of the House Committee on Rules called on GOP Chairman David Dreier to hold hearings on House ethics, and specifically on H. Res. 131, a bipartisan proposal to restore the ethics complaint process after it was unilaterally gutted by the Republican leadership at the beginning of the 109th Congress. You can see the letters here. So, who exactly is David Dreier?... well in addition to giving $5K to Tom DeLay's legal defense fund, he is also a big gay GOP hypocrite.
This is unF-ingbelievable... 42 Dems voted along w/the wealthy boot licking Repubs to repeal the Estate Tax. The 1st 1.5million of any estate is already tax F-ing free for the love of God, and this tax has existed for 90yrs because they are certainly wealthy enough to pay their FAIR share of taxes... sickening... and this about the Slavery to Debt/ Bankruptcy Bill: Basically, the GOP will not stand for any amendments that will protect our soldiers, elderly, people faced w/massive medical bills... shameful, but expected.
Is it just me, or does the news never end about Rick Santorum's lies and hypocrisy? Well, when Santorum was telling the Culture of Life crowd that he had to fly to FL (on a Wal- Mart corporate jet) to intervene for Terri Schiavo's parents, he was actually raising money for his re-election fund... slimy... and if you ever had any questions about Santorum's ethics, please check out this priceless site which houses fascinating facts about Rick's less than moral activities.
Italian Journalist to be on 60 Mins, says US Lied The Italian journalist Sgrena is interviewed by Naomi Klein, and it answers many questions, but you have to ask why won't the US release the Toyota Corolla she was shot in to Italian criminal forensic specialists? Something to hide, perhaps? Well, she is giving an interview tonight on CBS' Sixty Minutes, and she says that the US military has completely lied. Hmm, tune in & see.
Gee, thanks so much ya F-ing nutjobs from the Schiavo case & DeLay's spew... now we get to pay for beefed up security b/c of all the threats the Justices have received. Well, this op/ ed piece about DeLay stirring up the psychos is great... and sadly, probably very true.
DeLay tells fellow GOPers, if asked about DeLay's ethics transgressions, to just blame it on the Dems. What's next? They have to wipe his nasty, troll-like butt for him, too? Jeeze.. try being a man... ya whiner.
Who knew about this group: Responsible Wealth. My favorite part of the article?... well its the part about the heartless Sam Walton family member, of course... and read this from the SF Gate if you want to be pissed off to the gills before dropping your tax forms in the mail: Didja know that a family making $60K per yr paid MORE of a share of their income in taxes than a family making $25million per yr? Didja know that Congress financed for crackdowns on working poor tax filers while ignoring the wealthy tax cheats? Yep, a filer making $16K per yr is 8 times more likely to be audited than a person making $1million per yr... for the love of Pete...
American wages are lagging far behind US prices... shocking, no? The former chairman of the Fedr'l Reserve from 1979- 1987 says our "economy is on thin ice". And The Progress Report takes a look at the Estate Tax cut that will cost more than $1trillion over the 1st ten yrs of the full repeal. As it is, the first $1.5mil of any estate is tax free... do they need more of a break?
Dominionists... SCARY This Rolling Stone article should scare anyone w/a brain. The Dominionists' sole objective: Biblical literalists who believe that God calls upon them to take over the US govt and base ALL laws on the Bible and toss aside that pesky Constitution... whoa...
OK, I am SO going to hell for this, but Stephen Hawking, (theoretical physicist who is afflicted w/a motor neuron disease that requires him to use a computer voice to communicate) produced a great, but little known song called "F-k the Creationists"... I am posting this in honor of the Dominionists, but does it strike anyone else that it is called Intelligent Design when the inbreds who believe in it are anything but intelligent?
If this report from Iran is correct, then I feel even sicker about the plight of our soldiers in Iraq. I would like to just brush it all aside and say that they should not be trusted, but it was the Iranian news sources who first reported that US and UK troops were torturing, raping , and killing detainees and prisoners in Iraq & Afghanistan as early as 6/03.
Gannon's appearance at The Nat'l Press Club will go down in history as the day the hooker went down... not on his knees... but in flames!
Hmm, some hits are taken by Wal-Mart, and gee, I'm all choked up... The Christian Science Monitor gets it dead on right while taking a rare peek into the inner sanctum of Sam Walton's cult. And this brewing scandal: Did Wal-Mart pay Wal-Mart staffers to rat out pro-union Wal-Mart staffers? This article asks the excellent question: What effect will a Wal-Mart Supercenter have on your town? Well, from my own firsthand account... it blows.
So, the US just struck up the deal to sell F-16s to Pakistan... but when US journalist Daniel Pearl was being held captive in 2001/02, his Pakistani captors demanded that the US give them F-16s in exchange for Daniel Pearl's safe return. We did not give them the F-16s, Daniel Pearl was killed, and now in 2005, the Bush administration thinks it is a good idea to sell F-16s to Pakistan. Why? And this comes to light that Osama bin Laden had been meeting with Pakistani scientists ...why?... to discuss the weather?.... no, but I'm sure it had something to do w/ scientists making some weapons for OBL and al Qaeda... so we trust Pakistan WHY exactly?And more Osama news: Newsweek takes a look at how Osama and Zarqawi struck a deal and why it has been so very effective in Iraq... so while our soldiers are cannon fodder for the insurgency in occupied Iraq, the son of a bitch who actually attacked our nation gets a "get out of jail free card" from Bush AND gets to have a hand in the insurgency that kills more and more of our soldiers. Pretty sweet deal for Osama, no?
And the GOP Rabid Pack Eat Their Own When the going gets tough, the rabid GOP pack always turns on their own kind and eats them: Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn), who is a crazy foaming at the mouth fundamentalist himself, says that Tom DeLay should quit as leader of the House... and the hungry wolves start circling...
This piece from the Wash Post is so sad, and proves that for so very many women and couples, abortion is not only a heartwrenching decision, but it is often times the only counteraction available due to necessity... giving birth, then watching a child die is soul breaking in my book. I suffered a miscarriage once, and I know I couldn't bear the pain of burying a newborn.
This is a great article from the SF Bay Guardian on Arnold's plan to beef up Wall Street wallets by decimating worker's compensation... jerkoff.
300,000 peaceful Iraqi protesters chanted "Death to America"... wow, where's the roses and fuzzy bunny toys they were supposed to be throwing at our feet? Maybe that whole mess at Abu Ghraib has something to do w/their anger, huh? But Rumsfeld explains it all here. (only a spoof, not serious folks) or maybe it has something to do w/ US racism towards the Iraqis and Muslims, whom are referred to as "Hajjis" by our troops, just as the Vietnamese were called "gooks"... read about this Army Reservist's experiences in Iraq (graphic at times) to verify.
If you are brave enough... read this.... be afraid... be very afraid....
If you only focus on issues dealing w/sex, sexual orientation, and gender, then JP II was very conservative. But if you look at his views on issues of workers' rights, economies, social programs, and the obligation to care for our environment, then JP II was very liberal. Read this English translated version of Laborem Exercens to get a peek into JP II's very liberal, and dare I sat it?... even socialist view, on capital, economies, and workers. And like Bill Clinton, I believe that JP II's legacy will be a mixed bag of being absolutely correct and loving on some issues and absolutely too conservative and out of touch on some issues... like most of us humans, from time to time, and I absolutely despise the GOP's condescending Catholic pandering of late, and Bush said that Clinton is completely wrong on JP II's legacy (well, Clinton was mobbed by fans in Rome, while Bush was booed)... and, well the Pope still knew that you were an absolute hypocrite extreme Bush by claiming that you are pro-life while waging war, whole heartedly supporting the death penalty, the illegal use of torture, and the complete decimation of the poor and middle class by the wealthy... so all the Catholic ass kissing in the world will not change things, ya jackass.
DeLay's Friend: Stalin = Good. WTF? Since DeLay was tied up w/the Pope's funeral on Friday (yeah right, I am SO SURE DeLay was mourning JP II... NOT) DeLay had his friend Edwin Vieira speak for him at a conference called Confronting the Judicial War on Faith. Vieira said that Justice Kennedy should be impeached b/c his philosophy, evidenced in his opinion striking down an anti-sodomy statute, “upholds Marxist, Leninist, satanic principles drawn from foreign law.” Vieira then quotes Stalin to uphold his personal stance on dealing w/the Supreme Crt: "Joseph Stalin had a slogan, and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: ‘no man, no problem' ". WTF? So, a man who is responsible for at least an estimated 43,000,000 deaths is better than Marx & Lenin? Lenin is estimated to have killed 4 million, and how can you really estimate how many deaths Satan, if you believe he exists, and Karl Marx could have caused since they are actually figures involved in philosophy, not dictatorships? Hmm... 43,000,000 vs 4,000,000... you do the math. But when has logic and facts ever entered into this rabid pack of the GOP's minds?
What kind of gift is appropriate for a gay hypocrite? According to the NY Times: April 8 - Arthur J. Finkelstein, a prominent Republican consultant who has directed a series of hard-edged political campaigns to elect conservatives in the United States and Israel over the last 25 years, said Friday that he had married his male partner in a civil ceremony at his home in Massachusetts. Mr. Finkelstein, 59, who has made a practice of defeating Democrats by trying to demonize them as liberal, said in a brief interview that he had married his partner of 40 years to ensure that the couple had the same benefits available to married heterosexual couples. I say "Mazoltov!" to their nuptials, but did Art have to join the Dark Side and works his gay ass off to get ardently anti-gay politicians elected? Talk about selling your soul to the Devil.... jeeze.
Bush Booed at Pope's Funeral... he he he I watched the coverage of the funeral VERY EARLY this morning, and while I did see Bush looking like a bored schoolboy, swaying back and forth while holding his program, I did not see Bush get booed... DAMN! It would have been fabulous, and would have allieviated my weepiness. Here's the CBS take on it: When Mr. Bush's face appeared on giant screen TVs showing the ceremony, many in the crowds outside St. Peter's Square booed and whistled. Here's the AP take on it:VATICAN CITY (AP) - Some people outside St. Peter's Square booed and whistled when the president's face was shown on giant video monitors set up for the thousands who couldn't get into the square.
As if I would ever hand this immoral ravenous corporate beast a lousy tissue... Wal-Mart wants to tell their side of the story... to quote Dr. Evil... "boo frickin hoo"... and how nice of Wal- Mart to prey upon the poor and middle class who shop there by selling the Marine Corps at their stores in an effort to convince their shoppers to enlist. Nice... buy dirt cheap products from China, (a nation that forces their women to have abortions during all trimesters but all the pro-lifers shop Wal-Mart) and decimate our American economy, workers, and businesses by purchasing those cheap Chinese products, and also get the chance to lose your life, limbs, and mind for a corporate whore President & unnecessary war, all while lowering prices... always.
This defies all logic... so Jeb tried to kidnap Terri Schiavo, (and he should be charged w/that crime but of course will not) and Jeb said that he will happily sign a bill into FL that allows ANYONE to use a gun ANYWHERE if they feel that they are being threatened in public spaces. OK, so the GOP harps and whines about this culture of death when it comes to a brain damaged woman, but letting people use guns anywhere in public spaces is promoting a culture of life??? I wonder how Jeb would've felt about this law if Michael Schiavo had a gun w/him at the hospice when Jeb tried to kidnap his long suffering wife...
As we prepare to put the Holy Pontiff to his eternal rest, lets take a look at some papal news: The baby who "saved" the Pope when he was shot in 1981 is now having a baby herself, France struggles to maintain their law and custom of strict seperation of church and state, disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston is given prominent role in funeral, take a peek into JP II's Last Will & Testament, and this op/ed looks into at the stridently consistent anti-war stance that JP II maintained, despite Bush's empty pandering to Catholic voters. Rest in peace Holy Father.
Just when ya think that DeLay couldn't be anymore freakin crazy... he spouts off about judges running amuck before a crowd of starry eyed Kool-Aid drinking religious conservatives, and demands that Congress assert authority over the courts... think he would've felt that way when Congress was Dem controlled?...... just asking...And it looks like DeLay's trip to Russia with love may have been so DeLay could be paid off by the Russians who counted on DeLay being a force against the US actions in Serbia under Clinton's leadership... do I smell treason?
It looks like all the protesting is working b/c a new poll shows the Terminator's approval rating at 43% (he was at 59% in 1/05) and like all dutiful Repubs, Arnold is a whore to the poll numbers b/c he announced his 1st major GOP flip flop: he's reversing his position on the privatization of the pensions of state employees, and this move just may open up the doors to the Dems.
WHO: Millions of Babies & Moms Die Every 60 secs one woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth around the world. Every 60 secs twenty children die from hunger and easily preventable diseases around the world, according to the World Health Org. Roughly 136 million babies are born every yr worldwide, yet only 43% of these moms receive prenatal care. That may be why 4 million newborns die before they reach 1 month old and why 3.3 million stillbirths occur. According to the UN, despite global advances in medicine, the situation for expectant moms, babies, and children under the age of 5 have worsened since the 90's.... culture of life... I think not... and oh yeah, since the Culture of Life crowd wants to outlaw all abortions, every yr worldwide 68,000 women die from illegal abortions.
Good God, how many paid for foreign trips did this chump take? Yesterday I reported that it has been uncovered that DeLay went on a paid for by lobbyists trip to Russia for nearly a cool $60K, but now this: DeLay took a 1997 New Year's trip to the island of Saipan. Today, DeLay blasted the media over the just uncovered story that his wife and daughter have received payments of $500,000 from his campaign committees, and who is to blame for all of these stories coming to light?.... oh, that evil but totally make believe "liberal media"... And how about some more DeLay stories... well, it seems that on 6/14/98, The Columbus Dispatch (OH) reported that DeLay said that "judges need to be intimidated". Hmm... I guess that the Schiavo case was NOT the push behind DeLay claiming that "activist judges must be stopped!" LIAR
This is beyond belief... it involves a sheriff, a letter to the editor in a local newspaper, and a mother of 4... don't piss off a crazy stalker cop in the newspaper...
Finally, after the GOP pundits spread lies that the Dems were pulling some dirty trick by making the Schiavo Memo up just to expose the GOP as intervening opportunists who hopped on Schiavo's case to gain political points, the author of the memo is known: It came directly from (R-FL) Sen Mel Martinez's office... wow, I guess the Dems are cleared, huh?
OK, so we've covered what Bush said, now let's look at what others said about our prez telling the world he has no intention on paying for his unnecessary tax cuts and unnecessary war. Senators Reid & Pelosi released a letter today about this reprehensible irresponsibility. Sen John Corzine also chimed in and asked if the Treasury is already ready to default, then how can Bush possibly say that we have to borrow billions more to get his plan for Soc Sec privatization up & running? Fabulous question from the NJ senator... but what does our beloved Constitution say about this: Well, according to the 14th Amendment, first part of Section 4: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. Impeachable? Well, refer to Article II, Section 4: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. I'm no legal expert, but I think that the President of the United States calling the validity of the public debt of the United States into question sounds like a crime, and therefore, Bush should be impeached. The responsibility to see if this is treason rests upon Congress, the 14th Amendment, Section 5 clearly states this, as does Alexander Hamilton's "The Federalist 65", but do you really think that this GOP controlled Congress will do this? This certainly is a much stronger case than a married man lying about receiving blowjobs from an intern but maybe the religious fundamentalists will claim that God will pay back our debt, huh?
Hannity Calls Pope a Liberal Looney Well, to be exact, Hannity (who is Catholic, too, just like fellow pope basher Bill O'Reilly) called Pope JP II a "wild eyed liberal looney". I can think of a place I'd like to shove the Holy Pontiff's pointy hat... and check out JP II's letter on the ethical duty of the media from 01/05.
Talk about having a set of brass ones... Bush told an audience in W. VA that the Social Security Trust Fund is a work of fiction... Bush said "There is no trust fund-- just IOUs". The HUGE ramifications Bush statement makes: He is saying that the US govt may default on its Treasury obligations. A default on the Treasury notes held by the Soc Sec system would amount to a theft of at least $1.7 trillion (and counting) from all of us middle & working classes who have paid SS taxes w/every freakin paycheck! What about all of the nations who have bought our Treasury notes so Bush could pay for wealthy tax cuts, and his pre-emptively CHOSEN war in Iraq? They will dump our bonds while they are still worth something and make the Great Depression look like a picnic. PLEASE understand how MAJOR this is folks: Our prez told the world that the Treasury notes they bought to allow our prez to rack up his massive deficits, may NOT be paid. Our Treasury securities are backed by FULL FAITH & CREDIT, so by telling the world that we will default, he's saying that it is OK for the entire govt to not pay their bills, but that we consumers must pay our bills off even when forced to declare bankruptcy. Nice, Bush get to reneg on the massive debt HE racked up.
So, I said recently that we should terminate the Terminator, and it appears that the city of San Francisco did just that....ha ha ha ha ha ha...
Things are heating up for Tom DeLay in the hot water dept... from the NY Times, it seems that DeLay's wife and married daughter have been paid more than $500K since 2001 from DeLay's political action and campaign committees. And this from the Wash Post: yet another illegally paid for foreign trip for DeLay. This time, he went on a nearly $58K trip to Russia... wow.... Smirnoff's vodka, borscht, and Moscow hookers are soooo expensive.... And it looks like Reid and the Dems are rrready to rrrumble over the GOP charges over judges... which is so funny since Frist just put his tail between his legs and whimpered that the courts were fair in the Schiavo case, especially since he couldn't screech enough about activist judges on Mar. 17th.
Yep, its true. An Irish bookmaking site is taking bets on who will be the next pope. Paddy Power is listing Tettamanzi- an Italian and the Archbishop of Milan, and Arinze- an African and Archbishop of Nigeria as tied for first place. But there is an old saying at the Vatican: One goes in a Pope and comes out a Cardinal, which means that those widely favored at the start seldom are chosen as Pope. I guess we shall see very shortly... they have to pick w/in 2 weeks of the funeral. And this news from Belfast, N. Ireland is very discouraging: Anti Pope grafitti has been showing up in Belfast, and a Presbyterian Orange Order minister admits to making jokes about the dearly departed JP II and in particular, made Parkinson's disease jokes... classy, no?
Sen Cornyn Advocates Terrorizing Judges Sen John Cornyn justifies the violence/ threats against judges: "I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that's been on the news and I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in - engage in violence." [Senate Floor, 4/4/05] Ahem... it is a crime to threaten a judge... ANY JUDGE... in our nation ya A-hole... and as a senator, ya should know better than to say that. At least Congressman Conyers calls 'em like he sees 'em.
Hallelujah! The Gov of IL has made it illegal for pharmacies and/ or pharmacists to refuse to fill a woman's prescription for any kind of birth control medications. Rock on Gov. Blagojevich. Rock on. Finally a voice of reason among the insane, and simply put, where the F-ck do these pharmacists/ pharmacies get off imposing their personal views on a decision that a doctor made in the best interest of their patient? Doctors get to write the prescriptions for their patients... if a pharmacist has a problem w/ the decisions that a doctor makes when it comes to the prescribing of drugs, I suggest morally superior Nazi- pharmacists seek a new career... or get the F-ck over themselves.
This is interesting... John Kerry is a better friend to small businesses than George Bush. Imagine all that, a Dem wants to help out the little guy while a Repub wants to only help out the corporate beast. And it seems that Kerry was dead-on correct about Bush F-ing up by letting Osama bin Laden get away from the US in Tora Bora, according to intelligence documents. Wow, and to think, during the debates, Bush and Cheney said Kerry was such a liar... well, it takes one to know one. And this op/ed piece by Kerry nails it dead on about Bush's budget vs the average American's values.
Read this interview w/former Sec. of State Colin Powell. Too little too late A-hole. Ya should've grown this set of balls 4 years ago, but thanks for pointing out the obvious to all of us w/a brain... and we didn't need to read this scathing WMD report to know that Bush's call to war was complete crap, either... but thanks for letting us know that we were right all along.
Bill O'Reilly Lies about Pope Just when I thought I couldn't hate O'Reilly (who is Catholic) anymore than I already do... read this here. Anyone want to shove this King Hypocrite's crown up his lying ass?
The never ending hypocrisy of the GOP... so, let's all get this straight: Sen. Rick Santorum voted to cap the amounts that plantiffs can receive for their damages, pain & suffering, yet, in 1999, his own wife won a settlement amount of $350,000 (she asked for $500,000) from her lawsuit that a VA chiropractor caused her permanent back pain (I am inclined to believe that her many pregnancies gave her constant back pain, but what do I know?). And speaking of sue-happy hypocrites who want to deny others the right to sue, Tom DeLay, after taking his pops off of life support, sued the manufacturer of the electric tram that injured his dad, and won an undisclosed amount of money, but it's been estimated that he won at least $250,000. And Bush's push to make sure that regular joes can't sue and win big seems to be losing some steam...
The GOP is on the rampage over Terri Schiavo and their big lie that "activist judges killed her". Keep in mind almost every single judge who heard the Schiavo case in the countless court appearances were conservative Republican judges who had been appointed by the GOP. But the Constitutional Restoration Act proposed by Republicans in the 109th congress will make it possible for the Congress to charge any judge with a crime who disagrees with the concept that all law, liberty, and government comes only from God. The Constitution Restoration Act of 2005: Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit the U.S. Supreme Court and the Federal district courts from exercising jurisdiction over any matter in which relief is sought against an entity of Federal, State, or local government or an officer or agent of such government concerning that entity's, officer's, or agent's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government. Scary, no? And since Tom DeLay has declared "war" on the judicial system while talking to Brit Hume, you have to wonder how far will this frightening destruction of our Constitution go? At least one Dem senator sees the scary ass writing on the wall, so Sen. Lautenberg asks if a federal law was broken when the GOP threatened judges? Hmm... maybe.
A fascinating poll by CNN shows that Catholics want the next Pope to be similar to JP II (59%), but that they do want changes: 78% want the next Pope to allow them to use birth control, 63% said he should let priests marry, and 59% said the next Pope should be less strict about stem cell research... for those of you polled... I hear ya... and I couldn't agree w/you more.
 THE BEST PHOTO OF THE POPE.... EVER! Ya know that John Paul II is saying this under his breath and between his clenched teeth: "Heavenly Father... give me... the strength... to not... bitch slap... this... freakin... MORON"
"War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity... War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations... War cannot be decided upon...except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military operations." --- Pope John Paul II John Paul II was consistent in his advocacy for the culture of life under all circumstances, and his strident opposition to the war in Iraq and pre-emptive wars was never fully reported in this country. His belief in the value of life made him an active and articulate opponent of the war in Iraq, and he refused attempts by Catholic neoconservatives to modify the Catholic doctrine of "just war" to include Iraq and other pre-emptive wars. The U.S. media, GOP and neocons chose to emphasize his opposition to abortion, but not his opposition to the Iraq war. As the next few days unfold, we will see a GOP, evangelical, and neocon attempt to hijack the memory of JP II in the name of their causes, and the corporate media will cooperate in this hijacking. Yes, he was firmly anti-Communist, theologically conservative, and an abortion opponent. But he was also a vehement war and death penalty opponent, so let's do our best to remember the factual dimensions of the Pope as a spiritual, historical, political, and human figure... not the spin of the GOP.
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